"The New Guy"  Welcome to the "dumb" season, when pre-college teens are inclined to plunk down big bucks for this kind of crude fantasy about a nerd's quest to be cool. DJ Qualls plays geeky weakling Dizzy Gillespie Harrison, who gets a crash course on "how to be hip" from prison inmate Luther (Eddie Griffin), after an incident at a local mall lands Dizzy in jail. (Don't ask, trust me.) But this twisted take on "the ugly duckling" never hits the right note  naughty, ironic or even gross. Girls will wince at the hypersexualization of females; gay-friendly people will be uncomfortable; and a few enlightened males will wistfully become nostalgic. But when push comes to shove, "The New Guy" is cinematic junk food for hetero high-school boys.

"Spider-Man"  Move over George Lucas, the new summer movie-muscle at the box office belongs to Sam Raimi, who fearlessly directs this latest big-screen adaptation of Marvel Comics superhero. Mixing mainstream tastes with above-average wit, Raimi's "Spider-Man" is fantastical fun.

But Raimi's visual storytelling prowess would be for naught without actor Tobey Maguire. As geeky Peter Parker/ Spider-Man, Maguire and his trademark soulful expression are perfect for the role. And who could ask for a better girl-next-door to pine away for than Kirsten Dunst? Or a more over-the-top villain than Willem Dafoe's Green Goblin? Firmly rooted in comic-book sensibility and fantasy, Raimi's "Spider-Man" is no itsy-bitsy movie: It's a blockbuster.

"The Cat's Meow"

Peter Bogdanovich returns to directing with this period purr-fect mix of glamour, murder and salacious speculation. Set in 1924, "The Cat's Meow" attempts to solve one of Hollywood's longstanding, real-life mysteries. We watch as a bevy of the rich and infamous arrive for a floating party on publishing magnate William Randolph Hearst's (Edward Herrmann) private yacht. But the leisurely weekend takes a nasty turn when one of the guests turns up at death's door. As Hearst's prodigy, starlet Marion Davies, Kirsten Dunst crafts a bewitching portrait. At first her Davies is a lovely specimen, a butterfly adorned in the gorgeous, period-perfect costumes. By movie's end, Dunst has turned Davies into a complex, tormented woman.